India’s CoinDCX shuts down Coinbase acquisition talks

Reports claiming Coinbase is planning the acquisition of India-based crypto exchange CoinDCX have been denied by the company’s leadership.

In a July 29 X post, CoinDCX CEO Sumit Gupta shut down the rumors directly, saying the platform is not for sale.

“Ignore the rumours! CoinDCX is not up for sale,” the CEO wrote. Two other founding partners quickly echoed the message, stressing that the exchange is focused on building locally.

The report, first published by a local Indian media outlet, suggested that Coinbase, which already holds stakes in CoinDCX and rival CoinSwitch, was looking to expand its Indian presence by buying the platform. 

Coinbase briefly entered the Indian market in 2022 but pulled back after facing regulatory pressure. However, in March, the exchange secured a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) license. This has since prompted speculation about a return, adding weight to the CoinDCX acquisition reports.

The report also claimed CoinDCX was being valued at under $1 billion, well below its $2.2 billion peak in 2021, and came just days after a breach on the platform, fueling speculation that financial pressure might be driving a potential sale.

Background on the CoinDCX hack

On July 19, attackers drained roughly $44 million in assorted assets from an internal wallet tied to a partner exchange. CoinDCX later confirmed that customer funds in cold storage were untouched and said the loss was fully covered using treasury reserves.

The stolen assets were laundered through mixing tools like Tornado Cash and cross-chain bridges, obscuring the trail and making recovery efforts difficult. The breach marked another major hit to India’s exchange scene, following the 2024 WaziriX incident.

CoinDCX has since launched a recovery strategy, including a 25% bounty for reclaimed funds. Two wallets linked to the attackers holding over 155,000 SOL and 4,400 ETH also remain under observation, though no recovery has been reported so far.

The exchange’s denial now suggests it’s standing firm for now, though it remains unclear whether the decision stems from rejecting a low valuation or if there were never any talks with Coinbase to begin with.